Neeraj Banka, Director, Autotrendz Impex Pvt Ltd has been associated with the automobile industry from last 15 years. He has been into sales & distribution of various car accessories brand like Garware, Autocop, JBL, Pioneer and many more. About three years back he got into a joint venture with Vinay Daga and formed the company Autotrendz which represents CASKA in India.
Auto Trendz, established in 1985, is a Kolkata-based company engaged into importing of branded car accessories. It is the India partner for CASKA. The organization has been in the field of automobile electronics and gadgets for the past 25 years and also has 4 retail outlets.
Speaking with Yash Ved of IIFL, Neeraj Banka says “We are already in process of tying up with companies like General Motors, Hyundai Motors for approving the Caska range of products and are also in the process of developing products as per demand of the manufacturers.”
Brief us about the launch of E-Car series?
CASKA has announced the launch of the new CASKA E-car SERIES for the Indian automobile sector in association with its India partner Auto Trendz.
The product is an all in one intelligent multimedia technology system for automobiles which will be available across India from June 2012 onwards through Auto Trendz’s 20 distributors and 200 dealers with price points varying between Rs 31,990 – 49,990.
The product will also be available through OEM fitment in several eminent automobile brands. CASKA targets to attain 50,000 Indian customers for its products by December 2013.
CASKA E - CAR SERIES based on 3G will be a unit taking care of all multimedia needs in a more stylish way and a smart interface.
This product is targeted at the hi-end cars users and also to those who aspire to use ipods, iphones, browse through television channels and also read books digitally, all within their comfort zone inside their vehicles. It will also provide a full touch screen navigation system with the latest and most advanced one India mapping. The system is based on the latest WINDOWS CE 6.0 and has a large enough RAM and memory to operate all the functions in an efficient manner. CASKA products are an integral part of renowned international automobile brands such as Volkswagen, Mitsubishi, Toyota, Skoda, Chevrolet, Nissan and many more in many parts of the world.
Additional features of the Caska E-car Series include online updation of application, applications download from Caska App Server, live news, weather update, stocks update, email, blog and 3D image browsing.
How has the response for CASKA in India been?
The Initial response of CASKA in India has been very encouraging and it has witnessed 50% growth from the time it was launched in India.
We are expecting a very positive response from Indian customers as CASKA products has already witnessed a bullish growth rate since its introduction in India. We are already in process of tying up with companies like General Motors, Hyundai Motors for approving the Caska range of products and are also in the process of developing products as per demand of the manufacturers after which it may even be suitable for inline fitment.”
What are your future plans for Indian market?
We intended to develop a R&D center in India and we also intend to bring in more advanced products by next year.
Comment on your Capex plans?
We are planning to invest Rs500mn over the next two years. We are expecting around 50, 000 units to be sold by the end of 2012.
Brief us about your tie up with Caska?
Caska entered into a joint venture with Kolkata-based Auto Trendz in 2010 to market multimedia products offering navigation, entertainment and global positioning system (GPS) support.
Tell us about your E-car Series Product?
Placed in the premium segment, E-car Series has features starting from automatic ‘tyre pressure monitoring system' to live news updates using 3G Internet connection.
This product is priced between Rs 30,000 and Rs 50,000.
Caska is also in talks with two major Indian car manufacturers.
What outlook do you see for car accessories industry?
The India market is one of the largest markets in the world for car infotainment as the automobile industry in India is one of the most rapidly growing industries and happens to be the ninth largest in the world.
The car infotainment industry is valued at Rs 5bn onwards and with this launch CASKA aims to gather 20 % market share in the organized segment in India by end of December 2012.